The chemotherapy Xeloda (capecitabine) grew 4% to 386 million francs, while sales of Tarceva (erlotinib), for advanced lung and pancreatic cancer, slipped 5% to 323 million francs. As for Roche’s other products, Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a), for hepatitis B and C, fell 4% to 374 million francs. Sales of the transplantation product CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) fell 11% to 230 million francs.

On the bright side, RoActemra/Actemra (tocilizumab) for rheumatoid arthritis, rocketed 27% to 216 million francs. The clotbusters Activase (alteplase) and TNKase (tenecteplase) contributed 152 million euros, a rise of 30%.

For the full year, Roche says it expects low to mid-single-digit sales growth at constant exchange rates, both for the group as a whole and for its pharmaceuticals division. The Basel-based major does not publish details of quarterly earnings.

Chief executive Severin Schwan (pictured) said that "we remain well on track to meet our full-year targets", adding that "our pipeline has continued to deliver with 11 positive results out of 14 late-stage studies so far this year". He stated that Roche has strengthened its HER2 franchise with the successful launch of Perjeta (pertuzumab) in the USA and Switzerland as well as the filing of the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 (trastuzumab/emtansine) in both the USA and Europe.